Target with projectile-retaining cup



i Feb. 17, 197() K. R. FARRELLI 3,495,830

TARGET WITH PROJECTILE-RETAINING CUP Filed April 1o. 1967 2 sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 17, 1970 K. R. FARRELLI TARGET WITH PROJECTILE-RETAINING CUP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10. 1967 @fax-5 Arm Nav/,f

United States Patent Ofce 3,495,830 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The game is a substitution for the game of darts and comprises a plurality of outwardly facing cups on a substantially vertical base board in Icombination with a ball which the player attempts to toss into one of the cups. To facilitate the seating of the ball in a cup, the cup is flexibly mounted and vent means is provided to avoid entrapment of air behind the ball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is a fascinating indoor game that has been popular for many decades but a serious objection to the game is that the sharp pointed darts are hazardous and especially so if children use the darts. Many attempts have been made in the past to devise a substitute game that will provide the pressure and competition of the game of darts without subjecting the players and bystanders to the possibility of injury by darts. Many of these prior attempts to provide a substitute game have used balls but in all instances the troublesome problem to be solved is to cause the ball to seat in a cup with the axis of the cup substantially horizontal. In other words, the problem has been to provide a horizontally facing cup that will effectively engage and retain a ball that is tossed towards the cup'.

One answer to this problem is disclosed, for example, in the Bates Patent 507,098 wherein a vertical board is provided with circular apertures to receive the tossed ball and each aperture leads into a corresponding loose pocket or bag -behind the board. One disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the ball disappears into a pocket. Another disadvantage is the necessity of reaching into the relatively deep fabric pocket behind an aperture to recoverithe ball. A further disadvantage is that if the hole in the board is only slightly larger than the ball and the trajectory of the tossed ball is slightly out of alignment with the hole in the board, the ball will not enter the hole.

For ideal simulation of the game of darts, the cups should be grouped together on a vertical support board and the cup should effectively seat and retain balls that are tossed on trajectories that are approximately aligned with the axes of the cups. If the balls seat even when the trajectories are slightly out of alignment with the cups, the game will have substantially the same entertainment and recreational value as an actual game of darts.

It has been found that if a ball is dimensioned for wedging t in a tapered cup or for snug fit into a plain cylindrical cup it is exceedingly difficult to toss the ball into engagement with the cup. It is easy enough to simply place a ball in the cup by hands but it is nearly impossible to cause a close-dimensioned ball to move through the air on a trajectory and to seat in the cup at the end of the trajectory.

A second problem arises from the fact that if a ball is dimensioned to fit snugly in a cup and the trajectory of the ball is only slightly out of alignment with the cup the ball may be deflected away from the cup by impact against the rim of the cup. Consequently only a small percent of tossed fballs will seat in a cup and, as heretofore stated, when the percentage is too small the players may lose interest.

The present invention solves both of these problems to make it possible for a ball to move on a 'trajectory through the air and to seat effectively in a cup even though the trajectory is out of alignment with the axis of the cup and even though the diam'eter of the ball is close to the inside diameter of the cup.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important feature of the invention is based on the discovery that one reason for it being difficult t0 toss a. closely-dimensioned ball into a cup is that when the ball enters the cup it acts as a piston to trap and compress air in the cup back of the ball. The compression of the trapped air initially decelerates the ball and then the compressed air expands like a spring to eject the ball, this sequence of actions occurring in a nearly instantaneous manner.

Based on this discovery, the invention provides for air flow communicating around the ball between the interor of the cup and the atmosphere. `In one practice of the invention, the cup is vented by the simple provision of apertures in the cup behind the region where the ball seats. In a second practice of the invention the portion of the cup that embraces the seated ball is of irregular configuration to provide air paths along the ball from the interior of the cup to the atmosphere. In still another practice of the invention, the ball itself is peripherally recessed to provide paths for release of air trapped behind the ball.

With respect to the fact that it requires extreme accuracy to toss a ball into a cup that is dimensioned for snug engagement with the ball, the preferred practice of the invention is based on the further discovery that if a cup is flexibly mounted with freedom to oscillate radially, excessive accuracy is not required. Thus if the trajectory of the ball is slightly out of alignment with the axis of the cup, the ball will strike the inner rim of the cup in a manner to deflect the cup into alignment with the trajectory. In effect, the rounded surface of the ball acts in the manner of a cam against the inner rim of the cup to displace the cup into alignment with the path of the ball.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a selected embodiment of the invention comprising a substantially vertical game board with a plurality of outwardly facing cups mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is anelevational view of a cup that is employed in one embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views partly in section and partly in side elevation showing two types of cups that may be employed, each cup being provided with vent holes;

FIG. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing how a ball may be recessed to provide the required vent passages to the atmosphere;

FIG. 6 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section showing a cup that is constructed to provide vent passages around the periphery of a seated ball;

FIG. 7 is a transverse section taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation illustrating how the recessed iball shown in FIG. 5 may be employed with a cup that has a continu- )us uniform inner rim bead dimensioned for snug engagement with the ball.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a face view of an embodiment of the inven- ,ion which includes a base means in the form of a board l which is s-uitably adapted for mounting on a vertical zvall by means of an ear 12, the ear having an aperture l4 for engagement with a nail. Mounted on the front of :hcboard 19 and facing forwardly therefrom are a nurn- Jer of cups 12 which are adapted tcreceive and retain :ossed balls. The group of cups 14 may be arranged in my suitable manner.

In this instance one cup 15a is at the center of the Joard, the central cup being surrounded by six closely spaced cups 15b and cups 15b being surrounded by outying cups 15C. The board or the cups may be provided with suitable indicia for the purpose of keeping score. l`hus the central cup 15a may have a score rating of 100; each of the cups 15b may have a score rating of 25; and :ach of the outlying cups 15e may have a score rating )f The invention may be especially adapted for children with the cups constructed as indicated in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the cup has a bottom portion 16 which is dared as shown and is dimensioned to seat and engage a ball 18 with a wedging fit. For this purpose the inside diameter of the rim 20 of the bottom portion 16 of the cup is slightly smaller than the diameter of the ball so that the ball will wedge into the inner cup portion with a substantial portion of the ball protruding to make it easy for a player to remove the ball manually.

The bottom portion 16 is provided with at least one vent opening 22 to prevent trapping of air by the ball 18. [n the construction shown there is a plurality of triangular vent openings 22 which may be formed by simply lancing the sheet material of the cup portion 16. Since this particular cup is intended for children who are not capable of tossing a ball with high accuracy, the cup is provided with a relatively Wide flared entrance portion 24 which merges with the tapered bottom portion 16.

The cup 15 may be mounted on the board 10 in any suitable resilient or flexible manner. In the construction shown, this purpose is accomplished by providing the bottom portion 16 with an axial support stem 25 which normally holds the cup in a position wtih the axis of the cup substantially horizontal but nevertheless permits exure of the cup in response to impact of the ball 18 against an interior surface of the cup. The cup 15 may be made of a resiliently flexible plastic material and the supp-ort stem 25 may be an integral extension of the same resilient material. If desired, however, the stem 24 may be an elastomeric member that is vulcanized or otherwise bonded to the inner cup portion 16.

The support stem 25 may be mounted in the board 10 in any suitable manner. In the construction shown, the board 10 has a bore 26 and the support stem 25 extends into the lbore and is suitably anchored thereon, for example by means of a suitable cement.

By virtue of the vent openings 22 no air is trapped by an approaching ball to act as a spring to repel the ball. The air that is displaced inwardly by the ball 18 as the ball appro-aches its seat in the bottom portion 16 is freely vented to the atmosphere through the openings 22.

The resiliently flexible support stern 25 permits the cup 15 to be deflected out of its normal alignment by impact of the ball 18 against the inner circumferential surface of the cup. If the ball approaches the interior of the cup along a trajectory that is out of alignment with the axis of the cup, the ball will strik-e the inner circumferential surface of the cup to cause the cup to be rocked or deflected into alignment with the trajectory. Actually the direction of the trajectory is slightly changed in reaction to the impact and the cup flexes into alignment with the changed trajectory. The dellected cup returns to its normal position so rapidly that ordinarily the deflection of the cup is not noticeable.

It may be readily understood how the game may be played in a manner that closely simulates a game of darts. Each player has a given number of balls and tosses the balls with the intent of obtaining a maximum score by seating one ball in the central cup 15a and seating the remaining balls in the nearby cups 15b. Thus each player is enabled to accumulate a score for comparison with the scores obtained by the other players.

FIG. 3 shows a cup 28 mounted on an upright game board 30, the cup being slightly tapered to receive a ball 18 in a wedging manner. Here again preferably the rim 32 of the cup 28 is slightly smaller in diameter than the outside diameter of the ball 18 so that a major portion of the seated ball is exposed to facilitate easy removal of ball. It is to be understood, however, that the rim 32 may be slightly larger in diameter than the outside diameter of the ball 18 so that the ball wedges into the interior of the cup with a minor portion of the ball exposed. In any event, a suicient portion of the ball is exposed to make it easy for a player to remove the ball. The tapered cup 28 is provided with vent openings 33.

In the construction shown, the cup 28 is mounted on the game board 30 by means of a bolt 34 in cooperation with an elastomeric collar 35 and nut 36. The bolt 34 eX- tends through the botto-m of the cup and through both the elastomeric collar 35 and the board 30 with the bolt retained by the nut 36. Preferably the bolt exten-:ls through a slightly oversized aperture 38 in the bottom of the cup to provide ample freedom for the cup to rock relative to the bolt.

When a ball approaches the cup 24 on a trajectory that is slightly out of alignment with the axis of the cup the ball makes impact with the flared inner surface of the cup to deflect the cup into alignment with the ball to cause the ball to seat in the cup. The deflection or rocking of the cup is accommodated by resilient deformation of the elastomeric collar 35, the cup being immediately restored to its normal position.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, a cup 40 with a substantially cylindrical peripheral wall 42 is formed with an inner circumferential bead Ior rib 44 which is dimensioned for wedging t by the ball 18. In this instance the inside diameter of the bead or rib 44 is slightly less than the diameter of the ball 18. The peripheral wall 42 of the cup is provided with vent openings 45. The cup 40 is mounted on the game board 34 as in the same manner shown in FIG. 3, i.e. by means of a bolt 34 and cooperating elastomeric collar 35 and retaining nut 36.

FIG. 5 shows how the venting of the interior of the cup to the atmosphere may be accomplished by suitably recessing the peripheral surface of a ball 46. The cup 4S for seating the ball 46 is of the same tapered configuration as the cup 28 in FIG. 3 and is mounted on a game board 50 in the same manner. In this instance, however, the wall of the cup 48 does not have any vent openings. Instead, the ball 46 has peripheral recesses which may be in the form of suitable grooves in the periphery of the ball. In the construction shown7 the periphery of the ball 46 is provided with numerous grooves 52 which may be of any suitable pattern to insure that at least one groove will provide a vent passage to the atmosphere at any random position of the ball 46 relative to the cup. As indicated in FIG. 5 some of the grooves 52a may be grooves on a maximum diameter of the ball, the remaining grooves being spaced away from the maximum diameter.

When the ball 46 approaches the cup 48 on a trajectory that is slightly out of alignment with the axis of the cup, the cup is flexed by impact to bring the cup into alignment with the ball. As the ball Seats, at least one of the grooves 52 provides a vent passage to the atmosphere to prevent entrapment and compression of air behind the ball.

In FIG. 6 a cup 54 is provided with a rim 5S that is dimensioned to make wedging engagement with a minor portion of the ball 18. The rim 55 is of noncircular configuration as viewed in plan to provide at least one gap 56 between the cup and the ball to serve as a vent passage to the atmosphere. In this instance the rim 55 is of the undulating configuration shown in FIG. 7. Thus the cup S4 may be regarded as being formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced inner projections 58- for engagement with the ball 18. The cup 54 is mounted on a game board 60 in the same resilient manner as the cups shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

FIG. 8 shows a cup 62 that is identical with the cup 40 in FIG. 4 except that the cup 62 does not have any vent openings to the atmosphere. The cup 62 has an inner circumferential bead or rim 64 that is of slightly less diameter than the outside diameter of the previously described recessed ball 46. The cup 62 is mounted on a game board 65 in the previ-ously described manner.

When a ball 46 approaches the cup 62 on a trajectory slightly out of alignment with the axis of the cup, the cup is deflected in the previously described manner to permit the inner circumferential bead or rib 64 to seat the ball in a wedging manner. Air that tends to be trapped and compressed in the cup by the entrance of the ball is vented to the atmosphere through grooves 52 of the ball in the manner heretofore described.

My description in specic detail of the selected embodiments of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example if it is desired that a high degree of accuracy be required in tossing the ball, the cups may be rigidly instead of yieldingly mounted on the game board. Thus the collars 35 may be made of wood, hard plastic or the like to resist `oscillation of the cups.

What is claimed is:

1. A game comprising:

a base means for positioning in generally upright position;

at least one cup mounted on the base means and facing outward therefrom with its axis more nearly horizontal than vertical;

an object for tossing into the cup, the object being dimensioned for releasable Iwedging engagement by the circumferential wall of the cup;

vent means providing air ow communication between the interior of the cup behind the object and the ambient atmosphere to prevent trapping and compressing of air in the cup by the entrance of the object into `wedging engagement with the circumferential wall of the cup; and

the circumferential wall of said cup having an inner circumferential rib for wedging engagement by the object, the inside diameter of the rib being slightly less than the outside diameter of the object.

2. A game comprising:

a base means for positioning in generally upright position;

at least one cup;

an object for tossing into the cup, the object being dimensioned for releasable wedging engagement by the circumferential wall of the cup;

means supporting the cup on the base means with the cup facing outward from the base means; said supporting means being resilient to yieldingly permit lateral deflection of the cup whereby an object entering the cup on a trajectory slightly out of alignment with the cup will impinge on the inner circumference of the cup with consequent slight change in the trajectory of the object and with consequent lateral deflection of the cup into alignment `with the trajectory to cause the object to seat in the cup; and

vent means providing air iiow communication between the interior of the cup behind the object and the ambient atmosphere to prevent trapping and compressing of air in the cup by the entrance of the object into wedging engagement with the circumferential wall of the cup.

3. A game as set forth in claim 2 ywhich includes a group of cups on the base means, each cup being provided with a resilient support means to permit lateral deflection of the cup.

4. A game as set forth in claim 2 in which said Vent means comp-rises at least one aperture in the cup located inwardly from the region of the cup that engages the object to prevent the compression of air in the cup by wedging engagement of the object with the circumferential wall of the cup.

5. A game as set forth in claim 2 in which the periphery of the object is recessed to provide vent passages to the atmosphere when the object approaches seated engagement with the cup.

6. A game as set forth in claim 2 in which the circumferential portion of the cup that seats the object is noncircular to form at least one vent path around the seated object.

7. A game as set forth in claim 6 in which the cup is formed ywith inward projections to engage the object with spaces between the projections forming vent passages.

8. A game as set forth in claim `6 in which the portion of the cup that engages the object is of undulating configuration, the undulations providing vent passages past the seated object.

9. A game as set forth in claim 2 in which the cup is tapered for wedging engagement by the object.

10. A game as set forth in claim 2 in which said object is a ball.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 507,098 10/1893 Bates 273-105 1,199,564 9/1916 `Iudge 273-105 2,167,775 8/1939 Price 273-102 2,636,738 4/1953 Abagoif 273-96 2,770,460 11/ 1956 Deasy.

3,009,701 11/ 1961 Goldfarb 273-96 3,115,129 12/1963 Merriman 273-96 X 3,320,686 5/19677 Blackburn.

FOREIGN PATENTS 17,099 7/ 1907 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner MAX R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner 

